SWEETWATER FACILITIES
SWEETWATER FACILITIES
Current Facilities
Partnering and Innovation
While we raise support for the construction of Sweetwater Ranch, we will work with accredited labs that are in close proximity to our clients. Sweetwater will collect and transport samples, analyze the results, and produce a report that explains those details in practical layman’s terms. Where options are available, we will partner with labs that adhere to strict quality-control protocols and possess a reputation for producing reliable, accurate data. However, many of our clients in non-industrialized nations will not have an accredited lab nearby. In these cases, we will determine what tests are attainable in the field and ensure the results are trustworthy. Sweetwater Ranch will be an innovation incubator where new field measurement techniques can be developed which enable isolated rural communities to test their water using the natural resources available to them so that they can achieve greater water independence.
Sweetwater Ranch (Proposed Facilities)
Future Home of Sweetwater’s Operations
Sweetwater Ranch will be the physical hub of a global network for water research, education, and outreach. Every design element aims to fulfill Sweetwater’s mission to bring clean water and Living Water to the widow, orphan, and poor around the world. Planting our facilities in the Ozarks of Missouri will put us only a few hours from Kansas City, Springfield, St. Louis, and Little Rock. This location will strengthen our ability to raise income through education and training programs with local schools and environmental groups, tourism, by providing drinking water and wastewater treatment for the community around Sweetwater Ranch, and by processing water samples for private and governmental clients. Income from these sources will reduce our financial dependence on donors and allow us to assist clients who lack the monetary resources to cover all of Sweetwater’s operations.
Make Your Mark on Sweetwater Ranch
Building Research Capacity
When you invest in land, buildings, and lab equipment for Sweetwater you are increasing the opportunities we have to equip the world’s most vulnerable communities with knowledge and innovative tools so that they can become water-independent. Current investment opportunities include:
>> Land for Sweetwater Ranch: We are seeking 200 – 400 acres in south-central Missouri with significant river frontage.
>> Lab and Equipment: We need a lab building – but we also need to fill it. Opportunities abound for donations large and small.
>> Field Equipment: Portable tools for field measurements of water quality are necessary to gather reliable data in areas distant from accredited labs – places that frequently are the most water-insecure.
Click on the “+” icons to view map labels. Learn more about each area below the map!
Riparian Experiments
Outdoor Education
Raceways
Housing
Garden
Olivette
Shed
Admin/Shop/Library/Education
Lab
Fun Zone
Pump House
Water Treatment Plant
Jacob’s Well
Raceways
Artificial streams for conducting experiments that test novel and sustainable methods of water purification that meet the needs of our clients.
Wastewater Treatment Plant
This facility will serve two purposes: First, it will clean the water emptying from the raceways so that it can be recycled to the raceway channels or sent back clean to the environment. Second, the facility will provide a service to the local community by processing local wastewater.
Lab
The state-of-the-art lab will be the home of experiments in conventional and novel approaches to water purification. Results will be compared between methods that lean on expensive modern equipment and those that utilize only the resources our client communities have readily available, such as phytochemicals and clay soils. The lab will also process water samples, for a fee, delivered by private households (such as well water) and state and federal agencies. The lab will be certified by the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP), a necessary legal step for samples, but also to ensure that our experimental results are trustworthy and can stand up to the toughest scrutiny.
Housing
Housing will be provided for interns, short-term guests, and some full-time staff. Cabins will be available for single men, single women, and married couples. In order to ensure that all of our workers and guests never lack for a quiet place to pray, each home will possess a prayer closet according to the number of people the home is built to house. The prayer closets will be simply furnished with a chair, table, lamp, and a window facing natural surroundings. All living quarters will be built out of sight of Sweetwater’s operations so they may be places of rest at the end of work days.
Garden
The garden exists to provide training for interns, guests, and staff in wise use of water in food production. The food produced will be for those who work the garden to help offset some food expenses. Emphasis will be placed on developing novel approaches to irrigation appropriate for non-industrialized societies.
Olivette
Ten percent of the land will be tithed to the Lord. No development will occur on the upstream-most acreage of Sweetwater Ranch. The forested area will be a place to meet with God in prayer and quietly seek His wisdom for Sweetwater projects. A simple winding footpath will terminate at a quiet streamside thinking spot. No cell phones allowed!
Jacob’s Well
Interns, guests, tourists, and staff can come to this beautiful location to discuss difficult questions of faith, life, and work. The well area will be surrounded by a hedge of dense shrubs for privacy, seating conducive to one-on-one conversation, and a simple shelter to keep rain off of foreheads.
Shed
This maintenance shed will be built with Ranch growth and development in focus. Tractors, gators, and tools for maintaining all of the housing and Ranch facilities will be kept here.
Administration Building
Admin Offices
Space for Sweetwater operations including computer servers to support our online library and a meeting room equipped for international conference calling and presentations.
Library
A study area for staff, interns, and guests with reference library dedicated to water management.
Indoor Education
A room large enough to comfortably accommodate 30 children and their teachers for hands-on learning and professional presentations. It will be designed with interactivity in mind.
Shop Front
Guests to Sweetwater Ranch will start here. Tours will be arranged here, general information about Sweetwater will be provided, and items for purchase will be available.
Fun Zone
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! No work allowed in this streamside park dedicated to the enjoyment of what God has made. A swimming hole with a rope swing, a treetop walkway, an obstacle course integrated with the natural topography and forest, a rope bridge across the stream…all built for children and the child in every adult.
Outdoor Education
A strong emphasis is placed on hands-on learning in all of Sweetwater’s education endeavors. This stretch of stream will be suitable for practicing field sampling, for example, collecting stream insects, seining fish, and conducting assessments of the physical stream habitat. In this zone, demonstrations can be made of stream assessment methods used in non-industrial societies.
Riparian Experiments
A portion of the riverfront property on Sweetwater Ranch will be set aside for in-situ experiments towards development of new approaches to riparian management.